2019 First-Year Seminar Symposium
The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) and the Student Success Center (SSC) hosted the Second Annual First-Year Seminar Symposium on Friday, December 6, 2019, 1-3pm, in the Golda Meir Library 4th Floor Conference Center.
Congratulations to the 165 presenters at the 2019 First-Year Seminar Symposium and the award recipients:
- 1st Place: Thomas Herbst, Luke Schires, & Rory Pulz, “The Terroir of Vines and Rushes Winery, WI: Vineyard Soil Sampling” (Instructor: Barry Cameron)
- 2nd Place (tie): Samantha Yacono, “Night Phone Use and Sleep” (Instructor: Hobey Davies)
- 2nd Place (tie): Morgan Barthelme, “Reasons for Infant Bed-sharing” (Instructor: Hobey Davies)
- 3rd Place (tie): Josie Carballido, “How Adverse Childhood Events Affect Sleep” (Instructor: Hobey Davies)
- 3rd Place (tie): Ashley Kreutzinger, “The Emotional Reactions to Sleep Paralysis” (Instructor: Hobey Davies)
About the First-Year Seminar Symposium
When is the 2020 First-Year Seminar (FYS) Symposium?
The 3rd annual FYS Symposium will be held on Friday, December 11, 2020.
What happens at the FYS Symposium?
Students will provide brief presentations and facilitate short conversations about the major projects from their First-Year Seminar courses. Students will stand at their assigned tables or easels with their digital or physical artifacts displayed in front of them; attendees will walk from presenter to presenter and engage with them about their projects. All presentations and discussions will happen concurrently during the two-hour event time. The format of the FYS Symposium is much like that of UWM’s Undergraduate Research Symposium or like what one might see in a poster session at a professional conference. However, students are NOT required to produce printed posters for the FYS Symposium.
Who will attend the FYS Symposium?
The FYS Symposium is open to everyone in the UWM community and will be promoted to faculty, academic staff, and students.
Will there be awards given for outstanding presentations?
All presentations at the FYS Symposium will be evaluated using a common rubric, and awards will be given to presentations that receive the highest scores. The number of awards, the nature of the awards, and the evaluation rubric will be shared several weeks before the FYS Symposium.
Why should my students participate in the FYS Symposium?
One of the goals of the FYS Program is for all students to complete a public demonstration of learning, and the FYS Symposium is a great venue for doing so! Students will develop professional communication and presentation skills, and they will be positioned as authors with ideas to contribute to the UWM academic community. Students will have the opportunity to engage in important intellectual discussions with direct relevance to their learning.
What artifacts should students produce for the FYS Symposium?
Keep in mind that what students produce for the FYS Symposium is NOT as important as the experience of presenting their work. The primary purpose of the symposium is for students to discuss with attendees their work on a major course project. However, having something to reference (an artifact) can be very helpful to both student presenters and attendees. Here are two types of artifacts that students might develop for the FYS Symposium:
Digital artifacts
Digital artifacts will be displayed on laptops provided by the students (although a limited number of laptops will be available for those who need them). Examples of digital artifacts include brief slide shows using PowerPoint, static or dynamic websites, short videos, and interactive stories. Digital artifacts are usually easier and less expensive to create than physical artifacts because of the resources and support available to students through the university.
Physical artifacts
Physical artifacts will be displayed on a table or an easel, depending on the nature of the artifact. Examples of physical artifacts include graphic novels, chapbooks, artwork, stories, essays, and printed posters. Physical artifacts can be more difficult and expensive to produce because they often require printing or other resources. Students who develop printed posters can print one poster per academic year free-of-charge through Copy and Print Services. Poster templates are also available.
How many students from my class can participate?
All students in your class are welcome to present at the symposium! Students can work individually or in groups, and this largely depends on the nature of the project or assignment. You may require students to participate in the FYS Symposium, or you can make it optional, but you should provide some sort of incentive for students to participate, either as part of the final project grade or as extra credit.
How can I help my students prepare for the FYS Symposium?
There are many ways you can help your students prepare for the FYS Symposium! First of all, give students plenty of time in the semester to work on their projects and develop their artifacts. The earlier you provide them with guidelines or a prompt for their projects, the better. You might also give them in-class time to work on or discuss their projects, and you could also build in periodic check-in assignments in which students could receive peer and/or instructor feedback on their work. Having students practice their presentations in class before the FYS Symposium is another great strategy. Finally, students will present with more confidence if they have a sense of what to expect at the symposium and what they will gain from participating.
Am I required to have my students participate in the FYS Symposium?
You are strongly encouraged to have your students participate in the FYS Symposium, but it is not a FYS Program requirement. Students in your course can instead meet the FYS goal of a public demonstration of performance by doing in-class presentations, for example.
Who do I contact with questions about the FYS Symposium?
Contact Dylan Barth in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning by emailing him at djbarth@uwm.edu.